Grain-separator.



C. A. TORRENCE..

GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. m6.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I- Iva/mm)? a. m rm.

C. A. TORRENCE.

GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR, 5. 1916.

1 21 I l U. Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. A. TORRENCE.

GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. I916.

1 ,2]. 1 M). Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- C. A. TORRENCE.

GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. a, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Jul/Mm an. Tamra 0E CHARLES ARGYLE ronnmvcn,

or REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA.

eaAIn-sErAnAToR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A r. 3. ram.

Application filed April 6, 1916. Serial No. 8 9,313.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OI-IAnLns ARGYLE Tor:- RENOE, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Regina, in the Province of Saskatchewan, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Separators, of which the following is the specification.

This invention relates to improvements in grain separators and the objects of the invention are to facilitate in mechanically grading and cleaning the grain whereby the resulting tame grain is of a quality equal to that obtained by hand cleaning, to effectively control the air supply so that cross currents are obviated and an even distribution obtained throughout the discharge conduit of the fan, to permit of the stock feeding mechanism being readily adjusted to meet the requirements of the grain treated, to simplify the construction of the machine and generally to adapt the several parts to better perform the functions required of them. IVith the above objects in View the invention consists essentially of the improved construction particularly described and set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings forming part of the same.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved grain separator.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the improved separator on the side remote from that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4' is a fragmentary transverse section of one of the doors designed to control the supply of air to the fan.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the fan vanes showing the rings mounted thereon.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the improved machine comprising the frame 10 adapted to operatively support the several parts thereon. The hopper 11 is located at the upper forward end of the frame 10 and extends transversely across the same, being secured by bolts or in any other suitable manner, the bottom of the hopper being formed of angularly disposed plates 12 and 13 converging towardthe outlet opening 14, the plate 12 being preferably formed with a curved lower edge 1.5, the object of Which will be made clear hereafter,

The stock fed to the hopper is discharged into the curvilinear chute 16, the upper end of the outer plate of which underlies the curved lower edge 15 of the plate 12, while the lower end of the outer plate projects slightly beyond the lower end of the inner plate.

Located intermediate of the length of the frame 10 is a fan B comprising a casing 17 having a curvilinear discharge conduit 18 in alinement with the curvilinear chute l6 and designed to house the vanes 19 mounted on the rotatable shaft 20 which carries at one end a pinion wheel 21 provided with a crank pin 22, the other end of the shaft be ing provided with a crank 23.

Rig'idly mounted on the vanes 19 and intermediate of the ends thereof are a pair of rings 24; adapted to obviate the production of cross currents, the said rings tending to draw the air to the inside thereof and then through it to the opposite ring, thereby obtaining an even distribution of the air throughout the whole length ofthe discharge conduit.

In the embodiment illustrated the fan conduit 18 is substantially rectangular in cross section, and it is necessary to regulate the effective area of the discharged stream of air to suit the different kinds of stock being treated, and to this end I preferably provide angularly disposed adjusting plates 25 hinged at their upper ends adjacent to the casing 17 and capable ofbeingrotated toward each other, being provided intermediate of their length with pivotally mounted racks 26 passing through slots 27 in the conduit 18 and coacting therewith to retain the said plates in the desired position relatively to each other.

The stream of air enteringthe fan B is controlled by the doors 28 slidably mounted on the frame 10 and adapted to close the inlet orifices 29 in the fan casing, while to regulate the discharge of air to the conduit 18 a. valve plate 30 is pivotally mounted in the upper end thereof and designed to be governed by an adjustable balance weight 31 slidably mounted on the lever 32 connected to the said valve plate.

The fan B and the curvilinear chute 16 discharge into a valve box 33 which controls the distribution of the tame grain and the wild grain. This valve box communicates on diametrically opposite sides with the skelper shoe 84 to, which the tame grain is,

' bracket 38 delivered and with the chute 35 which carries oif the wild grain and other roughage,

.the junction between the said shoe and chute being protected by a cover strap 36 of metal or like material hinged to the valve plate 37.

This valve plate. is rigidly mounted on a pivoted spindle 38 and adapted to be rotated above the discharge end of the curvilinear.

chute 16.

The supply of stock fed to the curvillnear chute 16 from the hopper 11 is regulated by a valve plate 42 which covers the outlet opening 14 and underlies the curved lower end 15 of the plate 12 and terminates just short of the outer plate of the said chute. This valve plate is carried by the pivotally mounted spindle 43 which is provided at one end with a crank 45 having a plurality of orifices therethrough.

The driving wheel 44 is rotatably mounted in a stub spindle 46 mounted on the frame 10 and meshes with the pinion wheel 21, while to facilitate in manually operating the driving pinion a crank handle 41 is mounted thereon.

The crank 23 is connected by the links 48 and 48 with the crank 45, and to permit of oscillating motion being transmitted to the skelper shoe 34 simultaneously with the operation of the feed valve 42 and fan B the levers 49 are pivotally mounted intermediate of their ends to the frame and connected at their upper ends to the links 48 "and 49 which in turn rotatably engage with the'cranks 23 and 22 respectively, the lower ends ofthe levers '49 being pivotally attached to the said shoe.

The oscillating motion of the skelper shoe will facilitate in getting rid of any wild seed that should inadvertently fall on the screen thereof, and to ermit of this oscillating motion being uni ormly transmitted to the shoe, blocks 51 are mounted on the lateral faces of the frame and adapted to engage with the lower face of the shoe.

' In the operation of the machine rotary motion is applied to the driving pinion 44 through the crank handle and thence through the pinion 21 which rotates the shaft 20 and cranks 22 and 23 thereby transmitting oscillatory motion to the skelper shoe 34 through the levers 49. Simultaneously with this motion the links 48 and 48 are actuated by the crank 23 and transmit oscillatory motion to the crank 45, thence to the feed plate 42 operating below the outlet of the hopper.

During the feeding of the stock to the curvilinear chute lfrfrom the hopper 11 the curved lower edge of the plate 12 acts as a deflecting plate to prevent the too rapid rush of grain to the chute 16 when the flap 42 is open and evenly distributes the feed so that there is no crush of the same on the discharge edge of the valve plate 42; hence the stock enters the curvilinear chute 1G and descends therethrough under gravity. The stock on leaving the curvilinear chute is projected transversely across the stream of air discharged from the fan B and in its passage therethrough the wild grain, dirt and other roughage is blown into the waste chute 35 while the tame grain, which is heavier than the wild, passes across the throat of the valve box 33 and is delivered to the skelper shoe.

When different kinds of stock are being treated the valve plate 37 is regulated so that the length of the throat of the valve box 33 communicating with the waste chute 35 and the skelper shoe 34 is such that all the wild grain will be effectively cleaned. from the tame grain before the latter reaches that part of the throat communicating with the skelper shoe. In the event, however, of any wild grain entering the skelper shoe it will be understood that the oscillating motion given thereto will effectively remove the wild grain from the tame.

The function of the valve plate 30 is to automatically control the strength of the current of air delivered to the conduit 18 and this may be readily accomplished by adjusting the position of the balance weight 31 on the lever 32 thereby permitting the valve plate 30 being deflected to the desired amount by the air impinging on the upper face thereof.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of my inven tion, within the scope of the claims, eons'tructed Without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

hat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a grain separator and in combination, a hopper. a curvilinear chute below the hopper, a fan having a curvilinear discharging conduit in alinement with the curvilinear chute, means for rotating the fan, and means for regulating the effective area of the stream of air discharged from the fan.

2. In a grain separator and in combination, a feed hopper, an angularly disposed skelper shoe located below the feed hopper, a valve box located between the hopper and the skelper shoe, a fan provided with the curvilinear discharge conduit designed to discharge a current of air across the top of the valve box, means for projecting the stock angularlv through the stream of air and means for subdividing the throat of the valve boX.

3. In a grain separator and in combination, a feed hopper, having the bottom formed with angularly disposed converging plates one of which has a curved lip, a curvilinear chute having its outer wall overlying the said lip, and a valve plate pivotally above thechute and engaging intermediate of its breadth with the said curved lip.

i. In a grain separator and in combination, a feed hopper, an angular-1y disposed skelper shoe located below the feed hopper, an angularlv disposed waste chute adjacent to the said shoe and diverging therefrom, a valve box located between the waste chute and the skelper shoe, a fan provided with a curvilinear discharge conduit designed to project a stream of air across the top of the valve box, a valve pivotally mounted in the valve box, means for rotating the valve in a vertical plane and means for protecting the stock angularlv through the stream of air delivered from the fan.

5. In a grain separator and in combination, a feed hopper, a skelper shoe located below the said hopper, a waste chute adjacent to thesaid shoe and diverging therefrom, a vali e box located between the waste chute and skelper shoe, a fan located above the skelper shoe, a valve plate pivotally mounted in the valve box, cover strips hinged to the upper end of the Valve plate and means for rotating the valve plate in a vertical plane.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES ARGYLE TORRENGE.

Witnesses A. R. McKAY, GRACE HoDGINs,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

/ Washington, D. C. 

